What is it About: If you are reading this blog and you have not seen at least the first Back to the Future then leave right now and go watch it. Are you back? Good. Then you know it is about a kid who gets sent from 1985 to 1955 in a time traveling DeLorean. He must get his parents back together or risk being erased from existence. The sequels follow Marty and Doc's adventures in different time periods.
Why I Bought Them in the First Place: Look. To me, the first Back to the Future is just about a perfect movie. I watched this movie all through my childhood and I still love it.
What I Think of it Now: Clearly I still have a lot of affinity for these movies so this will hardly be an objective review. I'll try to keep these reviews short since there are three of them and I have little negative points about them.
Part 1: Obviously I love this movie. It's a great adventure/comedy. The characters are all memorable and it has some lines that have endured for 25 years. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are clearly the standout performances. Lloyd's Emmett "Doc" Brown is bound to be one of the best remembered characters in movie history and Michael J Fox is right there with him as Marty. The story is also great. I'm a huge fan of time travel stories in general and this one is no exception. The science fiction elements of the story or mostly kept at a minimum, but the ones that are there are easy to understand for a wide audience but clever enough that fans of the genre (like me) don't get bored with it. If there's any complaint I have about the movie is that it is a little too rooted in the 80s. I go back and forth as to whether or not this is actually a bad thing. On the one had it absolutely dates the movie, with its soundtrack and 80s pop culture references it is very much a product of its time. However, since the movie is itself set in 1985 and then in 1955 it almost works as a period piece giving it a bit of a timeless feel.
Part 2: Being a sequel, this one is obviously not as good as the original. Part 2 is actually my least favorite of the trilogy, which is not to say that in any way is it bad. The big thing it has going against it is that it hits a lot of the same beats that the first one does.What I do like about it is that it has a lot more fun with the time travel concept than the first one did. This one has alternate timelines, two of the same person at the same place and visits to the future. The future is where we have most of the movies problems. Since the movie future takes place in 2015 and it is now 2011, there is clearly some disconnect between the technology in the movie and the technology we have now. This often takes me out of the movie watching experience. The other major issue with part two is that it takes place at the same time as the first one so we see a lot of the same things. While it's fun to see that at first, after a while it seems to drag on a bit. However, it is a fun twist on the sequel rule "show the audience everything they liked in the first one but with more". I like the fun this movie has, but I just wish they had done a little more original things with it.
Part 3: As a kid, this one was my favorite of the three. It probably had to do with the western theme. I really like the fact that this one was a western. It sets the movie apart from the other two while still giving the viewer everything they liked about the first two. What is really nice about this one is that it is almost more Doc's story than Marty's. Even though Marty's arc continues and finishes here, Doc seems to be the focus of the western part of the story. This one just has a lot in it. There's a western story, a love story and of course the conclusion to the three movie storyline. It's a good movie and a fine conclusion to the series.
Before I wrap up, I have to mention the soundtrack by Alan Silvestri. The main theme is one of my absolute favorites in all of cinema. The rest really adds to the feel of the movies heightening the emotional and action moments. In addition, the Huey Lewis song "The Power of Love" is a great 80s song that really fits the movie well.
Will I Be Keeping It: Absolutely I will. One of my favorite trilogies with a ton of special features means this set will be sticking around for a long time.
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